In the small town of Waitamo, where the tour bus to the Glow Worm Caves

gathered us up, there were nice Agapanthus growing everywhere.

Agapanthus grow in purple and white—they are very nice.

This unusual (cedar?) tree was growing near the area where the tour to the caves started.

On the way to the caves, we wandered through some interesting terrain; in New Zealand, sheep and cattle (shown here) wander on

the “free range,” unlike America, where most are penned up.

After a 30-minute drive, we were let out on top of a hill…the bus then

parked in the valley below and we walked down a small trail to the bus.

Some of our group meandering down the

hillside to the bus—and the two caves we would visit.

The land around Waitamo is rocky, but also populated with a lot of dense vegetation in

spots—nice palm trees and other plants.

The small tour bus that took about 15 of us to the Glow Worm Caves.

This terrain, a rocky karst, is like Norway—ice age carvings of rock

create the unusual landscape.

Limestone stacks up in piles—and also forms the caves which are home to the Glow Worms.

These hills would be wonderful snake homes. New Zealand has NO snakes, so no worries,

Mate!

Near the first Glow Worm cave, we saw the river that runs into the cave. Over many years, the water travels through all the caves, carving them

out and providing nurture for the worms and other animals inside.

Not far from the Glow Worm Caves, Bob

stopped and took a shot of this penned up

ostrich—he did not seem happy at my

curiosity.

These small plants were sprinkled around

the countryside.

New Zealand is home to millions of sheep—which run “free range” like the cows. This group, like most, were very skittish. Whenever

someone stops to take a photo, they soon bound away.

These two motley sheep were near the second cave we visited; they are so used to

visitors, they just stand and look back at you.

Some of the larger trees in the area had

the same Spanish Moss that is found in the SE

part of the USA.

In amongst the rocks and grassy areas were some nice palm trees.

Left: a path for the tour bus to take from cave to cave. Right: a small footpath leading to a cave. Note

the green lush undergrowth.

Left: Moss gathers on the wooden fence posts in the countryside. Right: an interesting tree with

really hard “skin” (not really bark).